Washington, DC Tops The List!
Matt Woolsey, 01.21.09, 04:30 PM EST (FORBES)
[See: In Depth: World's Best Places For Real Estate Buys]
“World’s Best Places For Real Estate Buys” : Ten Cities Investors Will Target in 2009
Washington, D.C., traditionally takes a back seat to world cities like London, New York and Tokyo when it comes to real estate investment.
That’s likely to change.
Thanks to a proposed $1 trillion wave government spending, investors are flocking to D.C. for opportunities in the commercial and residential real estate markets. All these new programs will need offices, after all, and their employees will need places to live.
This year, Washington leapfrogged London for the first-place ranking in the world’s best cities for real estate investment. But don’t count out the world’s financial capitals just yet–even with massive financial troubles in London and New York, those cities finished second and third, respectively.
Why? It’s the appeal of long-term stability, and fears that emerging countries are going to take a harder hit. While the U.S. property market sputters, China is poised for its worst deflation in a decade, focused heavily on property price declines, according to Deutsche Bank
Here is the list of the world’s 10 best place for real estate buys:
• Washington, DC
• London
• New York City
• Tokyo
• Shanghai
• San Francisco
• Los Angeles
• Paris
• Houston
• Singapore
No. 1: Washington, D.C.
Commercial and residential real estate often function as different markets, but both need low unemployment and strong job growth to puts money in the pockets of consumers and help businesses to succeed. At present, D.C. has the lowest unemployment rate in the country–4.1%, compared to the 7.2% national average. With President Obama’s stimulus package recommending $1 trillion in new spending, it’s unlikely government jobs–and those they support–will be leaving the District anytime soon.
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F. Hill Slowinski, JD, WC & AN Miller Realtors, A Long & Foster Company
4701 Sangamore Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20816
Cell: 301-452-1409 Direct: 301-320-8430 Ofc: 301-229-4000
